How can we be sure of the success of an application if we do not test it during the development process and before launching it on the market? Right now, the computer, tablet, or mobile phone, on the screen of which you are reading this article, has been tested by testers and repeatedly, before it can be read by you.
With this expansion of IT products, there are always new features and requests for specialists. Throughout this application development process, whether they are closely related to IT or not, in addition to creating and developing the idea, there is an important role in the whole process, that is the tester.
What does software testing entail?
First of all, the testing involves not only checking the application, but also the process of practicing the computer system to assess its quality, detect errors, ensure that it meets the requirements, to understand the benefits and risks that may occur with its launch. The specialist in charge of the test part is called the Quality Assurance Engineer.
The testing process involves a detailed analysis of the different scenarios, to predict any possible situation. The tester finds errors, an unforeseen scenario, based on which the process must be rethought so that those bugs no longer appear. In the case of the testing process, several roles can be covered, starting with requirements analysis, continuing with manual testing, testing the performance or security of the entire system.
Why is testing needed?
Testing is the key to the success of any business in meeting customer requirements. At the same time, it is important to gain the trust of the customer by offering quality software. This must be done throughout the life cycle of the product because the errors detected and fixed in the description phase of the specifications cost practically nothing, but the errors detected only after the delivery of the product increases their cost.
When we talk about the quality of an IT product, we must make sure that it meets certain criteria. The starting criterion in quality assurance is correctness, i.e. the IT product must meet the specifications given by the customer, these being contained in the documentation submitted by the customer or prepared together with him. When we talk about reliability we mean the stability of the software, we expect it not to fall when it is used by multiple users.
For example, if a live event is broadcast, sites often cannot cope with a large number of users loading very slowly and becoming inaccessible which of course leads to the loss of users, and ultimately even money. Thirdly, we expect the product to be as easy to use as possible, with a pleasant, intuitive design and the information being accessible all the time, in a word, to be usable.
Also, quality software is easy to maintain, and the written code is legible and easy to modify, this being the maintainability criterion. For it to be fulfilled, our programmers respect certain standards when writing code, and respecting these standards, the code will be easy to use and reuse and so we will be able to talk about the reusability criterion.
The product must be easy to test, the site must be available for testing at all times, it must be able to be controlled, it must be done simply and clearly, it must work fast enough for the testing to take place in a rhythm as sustained as possible. And the documentation must in turn be clear and accessible, this being the testability criterion. Nowadays, the reaction time of a site is extremely important, in other words, for it to load at a fast pace because the competition is high and the patience is low. The quality of our platforms is also given by the observance of some ISOs and the copyrights, which is by the observance of the legal criterion of requirements.
Because there are many variables to consider and many potential problems, our testers ensure that the software, application, or site under test meets several important criteria. Their role is to ensure that the computer product we have developed meets the overall result desired by the customer.
At Code4Nord, we focus on testing to identify errors in order to gain customer confidence.